Alongside its usual LCD and QLED offerings, Samsung has a new TV technology on show at CES 2018. MicroLED technology has enabled the creation of "The Wall", a modular 146-in "true" LED display that works like stadium scoreboards, but on a much smaller scale.
It might not measure up to C Seed's ludicrous (and ludicrously-priced) 262-in TV, but The Wall is still an utter behemoth compared to even the upper end of today's big-screen televisions. That said, although the model Samsung showed off at its First Look CES event measured 146 inches, the Wall isn't pinned to that number. Its modular design means that the screen can be scaled up or down to fit the space available.
Making the scalability possible is the MicroLED tech. It works on the same principle as arena scoreboards, where the pixels are made up of LEDs (unlike so-called LED TVs that simply use an LED backlight). But here the individual LEDs are far smaller than usual – down to the micrometer scale – and give The Wall a clearer picture in terms of brightness, color gamut, color volume and contrast.
In addition to providing infinite contrast like OLED, the tech can apparently improve the TV's power consumption and lifetime of the light sources. No pricing, or resolution, has been announced, but Samsung says its MicroLED TV will ship sometime this year.
In the meantime, Samsung also showed off a few more accessible TVs at the First Look event. This year, the company's QLED TVs will be bumped up to 8K resolution and will be able to scale up content from SD, HD or 4K into 8K, thanks to AI algorithms. And Samsung's 2018 Smart TV lineup is set to be compatible with the company's Internet of Things hub, SmartThings, and its voice-controlled assistant, Bixby.
The 8K AI TV will be rolled out to Korea and the US in the second half of 2018, and Samsung will demonstrate the whole lineup at CES this week.
Source: Samsung
